The Galactic halo magnetic field revisited

Recently, Sun et al. (2008) published new Galactic 3D-models of magnetic fields in the disk and halo of the Milky Way and the distribution of cosmic-ray electron density by taking into account the thermal electron density model NE2001 by Cordes & Lazio (2002, 2003). The models successfully reproduce observed continuum and polarization all-sky maps and the distribution of rotation measures of extragalactic sources across the sky. However, the model parameters obtained for the Galactic halo, although reproducing the observations, seem physically unreasonable: the magnetic field needs to be significantly stronger in the Galactic halo than in the plane and the cosmic-ray distribution must be truncated at about 1 kpc to avoid excessive synchrotron emission from the halo. The reason for these unrealistic parameters was the low scale-height of the warm thermal gas of about 1 kpc adapted in the NE2001 model. However, this scale-height seemed well settled by numerous investigations. Recently, the scale-height of the warm gas in the Galaxy was revised by Gaensler et al. (2008) to about 1.8 kpc, by showing that the 1 kpc scale-height results from a systematic bias in the analysis of pulsar data. This implies a higher thermal electron density in the Galactic halo, which in turn reduces the halo magnetic field strength to account for the observed rotation measures of extragalactic sources. We slightly modified the NE2001 model for the new scale-height and revised the Sun et al. (2008) model parameters accordingly: the strength of the regular halo magnetic field is now 2 microG or lower, and the physically unrealistic cutoff in z for the cosmic-ray electron density is removed. The simulations based on the revised 3D-models reproduce all-sky observations as before.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA

The DRAO 26-m Large Scale Polarization Survey at 1.41 GHz

The Effelsberg telescope as well as the DRAO synthesis telescope are currently surveying the Galactic polarized emission at 21 cm in detail. These new surveys reveal an unexpected richness of small-scale structures in the polarized sky. However, observations made with synthesis or single-dish telescopes are not on absolute intensity scales and therefore lack information about the large-scale distribution of polarized emission to a different degree. Until now, absolutely calibrated polarization data from the Leiden/Dwingeloo polarization surveys are used to recover the missing spatial information. However, these surveys cannot meet the requirements of the recent survey projects regarding sampling and noise and new polarization observation were initiated to complement the Leiden/Dwingeloo Survey. In this paper we will outline the observation and report on the progress for a new polarization survey of the northern sky with the 26-m telescope of the DRAO.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

A statistical analysis of a Galactic all sky survey at 1.4 GHz

Radio surveys at frequencies of about 1 GHz allow to map the synchrotron emission in a frequency range where (except for very low Galactic latitudes or towards localized regions) it dominates over the other radio components. New all sky total intensity and polarization data at 1.4 GHz have been recently collected. We focus on the Galactic radio emission correlation properties described in terms of angular power spectrum (APS). We present for the first time the APS, in both total intensity and polarization modes, for some representative Galactic cuts and suitable APS power law parametrizations.Comment: Comments: 2 pages, 2 figures; in Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol.327, Issue 5/6, p.491 (2006); Proceedings of International Conference "The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Magnetism", 29 August - 2 September 2005, CNR Area della Ricerca, Bologna, Italy, eds. R. Beck, G. Brunetti, L. Feretti, and B. Gaensle

Rotation Measure Synthesis of Galactic Polarized Emission with the DRAO 26-m Telescope

Radio polarimetry at decimetre wavelengths is the principal source of information on the Galactic magnetic field. The diffuse polarized emission is strongly influenced by Faraday rotation in the magneto-ionic medium and rotation measure is the prime quantity of interest, implying that all Stokes parameters must be measured over wide frequency bands with many frequency channels. The DRAO 26-m Telescope has been equipped with a wideband feed, a polarization transducer to deliver both hands of circular polarization, and a receiver, all operating from 1277 to 1762 MHz. Half-power beamwidth is between 40 and 30 arcminutes. A digital FPGA spectrometer, based on commercially available components, produces all Stokes parameters in 2048 frequency channels over a 485-MHz bandwidth. Signals are digitized to 8 bits and a Fast Fourier Transform is applied to each data stream. Stokes parameters are then generated in each frequency channel. This instrument is in use at DRAO for a Northern sky polarization survey. Observations consist of scans up and down the Meridian at a drive rate of 0.9 degree per minute to give complete coverage of the sky between declinations -30 degree and 90 degree. This paper presents a complete description of the receiver and data acquisition system. Only a small fraction of the frequency band of operation is allocated for radio astronomy, and about 20 percent of the data are lost to interference. The first 8 percent of data from the survey are used for a proof-of-concept study, which has led to the first application of Rotation Measure Synthesis to the diffuse Galactic emission obtained with a single-antenna telescope. We find rotation measure values for the diffuse emission as high as approximately 100 rad per square metre, much higher than recorded in earlier work.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

The local Galactic magnetic field in the direction of Geminga

The Milagro hot spot A, close to the Galactic anticenter direction, has been tentatively attributed to cosmic rays from a local reservoir (at a distance ~100 pc), freely streaming along diverging and smooth magnetic field lines. This is at variance with the geometry of the ~kpc scale Galactic magnetic field, which is known to be aligned with the spiral arms. We investigate the information available on the geometry of the magnetic field on the scales (~100 pc) of relevance here. The magnetic field immediately upstream of the heliosphere has been investigated by previous authors by modeling the interaction of this field with the solar wind. At larger distances, we use the dispersion measure and the rotation measure of nearby pulsars (especially towards the third Galactic quadrant). Additional information about the local field towards the North Polar Spur is taken from previous studies of the diffuse radio emission and the polarization of starlight. The asymmetry of the heliosphere with respect to the incoming interstellar medium implies a magnetic field almost orthogonal to the local spiral arm, in the general direction of hot spot A, but more to the south. This is in good agreement with the nearby pulsar data on the one side, and the North Polar Spur data on the other. The local magnetic field on scales of ~100 parsecs around the Sun seems to be oriented so as to provide a direct connection between the Solar system and a possible site of the Geminga supernova; the residual angular difference and the shape and orientation of the Milagro hot spot can be attributed to the field trailing in the wake of the heliosphere.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Faraday caustics: Singularities in the Faraday spectrum and their utility as probes of magnetic field properties

We describe singularities in the distribution of polarized intensity as a function of Faraday depth (i.e. the Faraday spectrum) caused by line-of-sight (LOS) magnetic field reversals. We call these features Faraday caustics because of their similarity to optical caustics. They appear as sharply peaked and asymmetric profiles in the Faraday spectrum, that have a tail that extends to one side. The direction in which the tail extends depends on the way in which the LOS magnetic field reversal occurs (either changing from oncoming to retreating or vice versa). We describe how Faraday caustics will form three-dimensional surfaces that relate to boundaries between regions where the LOS magnetic field has opposite polarity. We present examples from simulations of the predicted polarized synchrotron emission from the Milky Way. We derive either the probability or luminosity distribution of Faraday caustics produced in a Gaussian magnetic field distribution as a function of their strength, F, and find that for strong Faraday caustics P(F)\proptoF^{-3} . If fully resolved, this distribution is also shown to depend on the Taylor microscale, which relates to the largest scale over which dissipation is important in a turbulent flow.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A multifrequency angular power spectrum analysis of the Leiden polarization surveys

The Galactic synchrotron emission is expected to be the most relevant source of astrophysical contamination in cosmic microwave background polarization measurements, at least at frequencies 30'. We present a multifrequency analysis of the Leiden surveys, linear polarization surveys covering essentially the Northern Celestial Hemisphere at five frequencies between 408 MHz and 1411 MHz. By implementing specific interpolation methods to deal with these irregularly sampled data, we produced maps of the polarized diffuse Galactic radio emission with pixel size of 0.92 deg. We derived the angular power spectrum (APS) (PI, E, and B modes) of the synchrotron dominated radio emission as function of the multipole, l. We considered the whole covered region and some patches at different Galactic latitudes. By fitting the APS in terms of power laws (C_l = k l^a), we found spectral indices that steepen with increasing frequency: from a = -(1-1.5) at 408 MHz to a = -(2-3) at 1411 MHz for 10 < l < 100 and from a = -0.7 to a = -1.5 for lower multipoles (the exact values depending on the considered sky region and polarization mode). The bulk of this steepening can be interpreted in terms of Faraday depolarization effects. We then considered the APS at various fixed multipoles and its frequency dependence. Using the APSs of the Leiden surveys at 820 MHz and 1411 MHz, we determined possible ranges for the rotation measure, RM, in the simple case of an interstellar medium slab model. Taking also into account the polarization degree at 1.4 GHz, we could break the degeneracy between the identified RM intervals. The most reasonable of them turned out to be RM = 9-17 rad/m^2.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures. Astronomy and Astrophysics, in pres

The magnetic field of the Large Magellanic Cloud revealed through Faraday rotation

We have measured the Faraday rotation toward a large sample of polarized radio sources behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), to determine the structure of this galaxy's magnetic field. The magnetic field of the LMC consists of a coherent axisymmetric spiral of field strength ~1 microgauss. Strong fluctuations in the magnetic field are also seen, on small (<0.5 parsecs) and large (~100 parsecs) scales. The significant bursts of recent star formation and supernova activity in the LMC argue against standard dynamo theory, adding to the growing evidence for rapid field amplification in galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, including 3 embedded EPS figures (1 color, 2 b/w) plus supporting on-line material; uses scicite.sty. To appear in Science, vol 307, number 5715 (11 March 2005

Measuring and calibrating Galactic synchrotron emission

Our position inside the Galaxy requires all-sky surveys to reveal its large-scale properties. The zero-level calibration of all-sky surveys differs from standard 'relative' measurements, where a source is measured in respect to its surroundings. All-sky surveys aim to include emission structures of all angular scales exceeding their angular resolution including isotropic emission components. Synchrotron radiation is the dominating emission process in the Galaxy up to frequencies of a few GHz, where numerous ground based surveys of the total intensity up to 1.4 GHz exist. Its polarization properties were just recently mapped for the entire sky at 1.4 GHz. All-sky total intensity and linear polarization maps from WMAP for frequencies of 23 GHz and higher became available and complement existing sky maps. Galactic plane surveys have higher angular resolution using large single-dish or synthesis telescopes. Polarized diffuse emission shows structures with no relation to total intensity emission resulting from Faraday rotation effects in the interstellar medium. The interpretation of these polarization structures critically depends on a correct setting of the absolute zero-level in Stokes U and Q.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. To be published in "Cosmic Magnetic Fields: From Planets, to Stars and Galaxies", K.G. Strassmeier, A.G. Kosovichev & J.E. Beckman, eds., Proc. IAU Symp. 259, CU

Polarization surveys of the Galaxy

We report on sensitive 21cm and 11cm polarization surveys of the Galactic plane carried out with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope at arcmin angular resolution and some related work. Highly structured polarized emission is seen along the Galactic plane as well as up to very high Galactic latitudes. These observations reflect Faraday effects in the interstellar medium. Polarized foreground and background components along the line of sight, modified by Faraday rotation and depolarization, add in a complex way. The amplitudes of polarized emission features are highly frequency dependent. Small-scale components decrease in amplitude rapidly with increasing frequency. We stress the need for sensitive absolutely calibrated polarization data. These are essential for baseline setting and a correct interpretation of small-scale structures. Absolutely calibrated data are also needed to estimate the high-frequency polarized background. A recent study of polarized emission observed across the local Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud complexes indicates excessive synchrotron emission within a few hundred parsecs. These results suggest that possibly a large fraction of the Galactic high latitude total intensity and polarized emission is of local origin.Comment: 6 pages with 2 PS figures. To be published in "Astrophysical Polarized Backgrounds", eds. S. Cecchini, S. Cortiglioni, R. Sault and C. Sbarra, AIP Conf. Pro